Have Facebook Reactions Been A Success Or Not?

Facebook launched Reactions to all back in February and whether they are actually a success is unclear. There have been contradicting views on this, and as I came across two just the other day. I have found two reports that look at Facebook Reactions and their overall adoption rate among users. The first claims they are a success, while the second claims the opposite. Where’s the truth though?

On May 12, GWI published an infographic, saying that a month after the launch of Reactions, Facebook saw engagement rates grow by 16%. More specifically, “8 in 10 are clicking “like” or “reacting” to posts each month – a 16-point jump on the previous quarter.”

On the other hand, Another study conducted by Contently, states that almost no one uses Facebook Reactions, and that this new feature has generally not been adopted by the platform’s users.

If you like our stories, there is an easy way to stay updated:Follow @wersm

GWI asked its control group the following question: “Thinking about Facebook, can you tell us if you have done any of the following last month?“. The answers to that question revealed that 8 out of 10 users used the ‘Like’ button, meaning that it’s not clear whether Facebook users actually “liked” or “reacted” to posts – only that they used the button. From this point of view, GWI could stand corrected.

However, there still might be a grain of truth in the report. While Contently claims that Reactions are not a particular success among Facebook users, but it’s interesting to see that they are mostly used in video content.

With Facebook investing in video like there’s no tomorrow, we could say that it’s possible video itself that will make or break the Reactions feature. Moving images are better at conveying messages and emotions, thus driving more engagement and use of Reactions.

Maybe this is where the essence of those studies lies. Reactions are a great tool to give more context to online engagement, however it could only make sense when content provides more context, as well.